High school playoff road smoother for some

GREENE COUNTY — Heading into Week 7 of the 10-game high school football regular season, the Greene County area has three teams still with a very good shot at qualifying for the postseason playoffs in their respective state divisions.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association has schools divided up according to their school’s size into seven divisions, and then the schools are divided up again into four regions for each division.

The top-eight schools in each region then will qualify for the postseason playoffs. That means that the top 32 teams (eight from each of the division’s four regions) will qualify for the post season.

Undefeated Greeneview (Division V, Region 20) finds itself sitting fourth in the computer rankings. Given the records of their remaining four opponents, the Rams should win out. Opponents South Charleston Southeastern, Cedarville, Springfield Catholic Central and London Madison Plains currently have a combined record of 7-17 this season.

With Beavercreek’s narrow road loss last week at Springboro, the Beavers (Division I, Region 3) find themselves on the bubble in that eighth and final qualifying spot in their region. And they have a much harder row to hoe in their final four contests.

Beavercreek’s final four games are against state-ranked opponents Huber Heights Wayne and Centerville, plus 5-1 Springfield, and Miamisburg. The four teams have a combined 18-6 record, with Miamisburg as the only team on that slate without a winning record at 3-3.

Bellbrook took a hit with last week’s 41-34 loss to state-ranked Germantown Valley View, but the Golden Eagles are still in the thick of things in Division III, Region 12. Bellbrook sits fourth in the region and has a key game against Franklin (No. 2 in the region) this week.

Franklin is 5-1 so far, with their only loss coming to Valley View. After that, Bellbrook’s schedule gets a lot easier. The Golden Eagles then would face winless Northridge, one-win Monroe and 3-3 Oakwood. The four teams have a combined record of 9-15.

Area rankings

1. Greeneview (6-0) +180

2. Beavercreek (5-1) +101

3. Bellbrook (4-2) +91

4. Fairborn (2-4) -24

5. Carroll (1-5) -164

6. Xenia (0-6) -140

7. Cedarville (0-6) -213

Last week’s scores

Fairborn 38, Stebbins 0

Greeneview 63, Greenon 20

McNicholas 28, Carroll 0

Southeastern 54, Cedarville 22

Springboro 27, Beavercreek 24

Springfield 55, Xenia 12

Valley View 41, Bellbrook 34

Top performers

Wesley Watts, Quarterback, Fairborn — The 6-foot-4, 200-pound senior QB ran for a touchdown and passed for another in the Skyhawks’ win over Riverside Stebbins on Thursday, Sept. 28. Watts completed 9 of 18 passes for 129 yards, including a 15-yard TD pass to Jordan Greene. He also ran in for a score from a yard out.

Meechi Harris, Wide Receiver/Safety, Xenia — Harris took a 38-yard lateral pass in for one score, then hauled in a 17-yard pass from Bucs quarterback Christian Severt for another TD in Xenia’s loss to Springfield.